That's my cue to go into the corner and cry like a little girl. Pardon me for a bit. I am getting all choked up.
But you said I started the thread to pick on Christians, when most of them probably do not take the Ark story literally. So that just aint true. You act like its just non-Christians taking issue with this. It is not.
Did G Washington really not lie about the Cherry Tree? I think the DETAILS of history are often . . .embellished Rocket River
The only people I saw "taking issue with it" were those bashing the Christians that DO believe it to be true. I can tell you that someone who calls themselves a Christian isn't going to call another Christian "stupid" for believing the Ark to be true... because like I said, it doesn't matter if they beleive it or not. You can't sit there and tell me that you started this thread truly wanting to know more about people's beliefs, you started it to get the "backing" you needed for your "you guys are morons, it is all myth" comments in the other thread, and as you can tell from the responses, or lack there of you aren't going to get Christians in here bickering among one another about the truth of the story.
i am a christian who doesnt take the story as the literal truth. i do believe that there was a flood (localized - not covering the whole world) and that alot of people probably drowned and that there was a dude named noah, who probably built a raft or just sought higher ground. maybe he had a goat and some chickens that he took up into the hills with him to ride out the storm. its silly to say that you have to take the bible literally to be a christian. its the message thats important. some people fail to keep in mind that the bible was written at a time when humans were even dumber than we are now.
Meowgi -- you started a thread asking a question....you've already told us that someone who answers yes to that question deserves ridicule. are you asking so you figure out who you can point and laugh at? can you understand why some people might look at this a bit suspiciously, given that?
I would of been happy with a poll only. I was just curious. I wanted to know how many feel that way. That's why I would of preferred it being public, to keep people honest. Look, in the other thread my reply was to Fatty (as I explained many times), so chill out, I don't think your an idiot - just him. And trust me, many Christians consider the literalists/creationists to be off their rockers. Just try attending some of the churches down here in the NASA area...
As a Christian myself I often look at the stories in the Old Testament and wonder if they are real or not. I know they are there for a reason, as I believe the words are inspired by God. I guess it doesn't really affect my faith one way or another if some of those stories are literal or not. When I die and hopefully go to heaven and I'm told that the story of the ark really is true, and God used his might to save one family from destruction along with all the animals of the world, I would believe it. If I'm told that God used men with awesome story telling abilities to spread messages through the world I would believe that too. I guess the point is that I don't NOT believe in the fantastic stories in the Bible. When God is involved ANYTHING is possible...so I'd probably lean to believing them. In the end, it doesn't REALLY matter to my faith. I still put my faith in Jesus Christ and in his teachings and I do believe that he died and rose again for all of us and that's all that really matters to me. If the old stories are truth absolute or not, big deal.
Why is it the name "Christian" keeps poppin gup? Genesis, and many of it's stories, as far as I know, existed in many other religions. Christians don't have copyright for that. It's in Hebrew, in jewish, Judaism (maybe). Noah story is also in Islam.
That might be true. Is Noah a Muslim and Jewish figure as well as Christian? I'm guessing he's a Jewish figure since the Old Testament is pretty much the Torah, correct?
I have always considered the bible a great historical text and nothing more. It explains rituals and beliefs from many different generations and serves as a moral roadmap, but isn't the word of "God". It is the word of men who believed they had the word. I find it interesting that the bible has already once undergone a cleansing, when the Apocrypha were removed, but people still believe that EVERY word in the book is true. Maybe what some believe today will be Apocrypha tomorrow. I don't belive the story, not much will convince me otherwise.
Excellent point. It's so funny how jews, who invented the old testament, and who the whole thing is pretty much about, tend to not get nearly as worked up about it as Christians (for whom the NT is theoretically the most important part, hence the name "christians") in the public arena.
